Golf information system

ABSTRACT

A golf information system which automatically provides golfers with reference position and distance information from a number of points on a particular golf course hole. In one embodiment, radio frequency identification tags would be positioned along a golf cart path, for example, buried underneath the path, and a reading system carried by the golf cart would output an interrogation signal which would activate the tags causing the tags to output a coded signal which would be received by the reading unit, which would retrieve information about that location from memory and output it to the golfer. The system can further be used to display advertising messages and to provide golf course management features such as monitoring cart usage and speed of play.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a continuation-in-part of Application Ser. No.172,458, filed on Mar. 21, 1988, now abandoned.

BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to a system for providing yardage and positioninformation at various points on a golf course hole as a golfing aid.

The game of golf has endured through the years as a test of man's subtlecoordination. Powerful men must restrain their strength in favor oftiming, touch, and strategy. Variations in a golfer's swing, bodyalignment, grip, and tempo combine with wind, weather, trees, hills,sand and water to make golfing consistency an elusive goal.

Professional golfers know the importance of eliminating as manyvariables from the game as possible in order to improve their scores.They use precision weighted clubs and new balls without scars orovality. They practice their club swing for hours striving to create aconsistent or "grooved" swing. When the professionals reach a tournamentcourse, they carefully study the tees, greens and hazards to plan theirgame strategy. One of the key aspects of strategy is knowing yardagesfrom various points on the course to the green, and yardages to varioushazards, such as water or sand traps. The yardage information enablesthe golfer to plan ball placement strategy and select the proper clubsfor given distances. The luxury of inspecting and carefully planninggolf strategy is not afforded the amateur golfer, even though they arejust as concerned with knowing yardage information to the greens orhazards. The amateur cannot spend the time necessary to evaluate theirball positions accurately since play would become extremely slow andmany courses do not have even the most rudimentary yardage references,such as the markers often used to designate a position 150 yards fromthe center of green.

Various mechanized approaches toward determining the yardage to variouspoints or hazards are presently known. Examples of such systems includeoptical rangefinders which is trained on a target such as the pin flagand calculates the exact distance through triangulation. Otherapproaches using radio frequency communication technology are also knownfor measuring distance to a target. Although such devices would likelyprovide the desired range information, they violate the rules of golfsince they find exact distances. In addition, such devices are "active"devices in that they require a golfer to take some special steps eachtime yardage information is needed which would slow down play, and wouldlikely be viewed as unfair and awkward to other players. Moreover, suchdevices do not find distances to other significant course landmarks suchas sand traps or water hazards, or features hidden from view.

The golf information system in accordance with the various embodimentsof the present invention improves over prior art systems in that theseembodiments generally provide information for the golfer as to range andposition which would have the effect of speeding up play, and arepassive in the sense of not requiring special attention each timeinformation is desired. The system of the present invention, in oneembodiment, includes a number of radio frequency (r.f.) identificationtransponders or "tags" which are buried in the ground along certaindesignated paths of a golf course hole or are positioned to define a twodimensional matrix across the hole surface, each of which contains acharacteristic coded identification signal. A reading device, preferablymounted to a golf cart, passes over the tags and activates them causingthem to transmit their coded signal. The code is then processed by thereading system to retrieve a set of information from a programmedlook-up table in memory which is outputted and visually displayed to thegolfer. Accordingly, as the golf cart moves about the hole, range andposition information is provided at various incremental positions. Suchinformation would include yardage information to the green and hazards,and perhaps distance from the tee. Using this information, the golferwould then estimate the true distance of his or her ball to the green orhazards by considering the cart position with respect to the ball.

This system would not violate the rules of golf since it requires adegree of golfer's skill and judgment in adjusting their club selectionand strategy as compared with the designated reference points defined bythe tags. It is further passive in that it does not require activeparticipation by the golfer who merely reads the information from adigital display on the golf cart. Various types of information besidesposition and yardage could also be outputted by this system includingadvertising messages displayed at preselected times, and informationregarding speed of play. Since the system would give the golferadditional information about range and positions, it would improve golfscores and thus reduce the time of play which provides commercialadvantages for the golf course operator. Since the r.f. identificationtags would be preferably buried in the ground, they would not in any waydetract from the natural beauty of the golf course. Moreover, the tagscould be positioned only along preselected golf cart paths as a means ofreducing damage to the course caused by golf carts being operated inunauthorized areas since the information system would be inoperative insuch areas.

The system of the present invention, in another embodiment, utilizes aplurality of transmitters, each of which is coupled to an antenna, whichare buried across each of the fairways (or the golf cart paths) of atypical golf course and which transmit positional information to thegolf cart, and hence to the golfer, as the cart passes thereon. Thisaforementioned alternative embodiment employs a transmitter having twooscillators operating at different frequencies. Each of theseoscillators feed separate driver circuits which are coupled to a keymodulator.

A digital signature generator is coupled to the key modulator and causesthe key modulator to select one of the driver circuit outputs to anantenna. In this manner, a digital positional signature is transmittedto terms of the frequencies associated with the oscillators. The review,of this embodiment, utilizes a key demodulator which converts thereceived frequency signals to substantially the original output of thesignature generator. A third embodiment of this invention utilizes aradio frequency link betWeen a golf cart and a clubhouse in order togive golf course management positional information of the golf carts onthe course.

Additional benefits and advantages of the present invention will becomeapparent to those skilled in the art to which this invention relatesfrom the subsequent description of the preferred embodiments and theappended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a plan view of an illustrative golf course hole incorporatingelements of the golf information system according to a first embodimentof this invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a golf cart incorporating elements ofthe golf information system in accordance with the first embodiment ofthis invention and showing a radio frequency tag buried in the ground.

FIG. 3 is an electrical schematic diagram showing the functionalsubsystems of the r.f. identification tag used in conjunction with thefirst embodiment of this invention.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of the antenna system used with thereading system of the first embodiment of this invention, and carried bya golf cart.

FIG. 5 is an electrical schematic diagram of the functional subsystemsof the r.f. identification tag interrogator shown generally in FIG. 2.

FIG. 6 is an electrical schematic diagram of the functional subsystemsof the reading system microcontroller shown generally in FIG. 2.

FIG. 7 presents an illustrative output of information for the golferprovided by the first embodiment of the system of FIG. 2.

FIG. 8 is a plan view of a golf course green illustrating a means foradjusting information outputted by the golf information system, showngenerally in FIG. 2, for various green pin positions.

FIG. 9 is a plan view of a cart path incorporating programmable tags forinputting pin position information to the reading system.

FIG. 10 is a plan view of an illustrative golf course hole incorporatingelements of the golf information system according to a second embodimentof this invention.

FIG. 11 is a plan view of an illustrative golf course hole incorporatingelements of the golf information system according to a secondconfiguration of the second embodiment of this invention.

FIG. 12 is a block diagram of a radio frequency transmitter unit used bythe second and third embodiments of this invention.

FIG. 13 is a block diagram of a radio frequency transmitter/receiverunit used upon a golf cart within the second embodiment of thisinvention.

FIG. 14 is a block diagram of a third embodiment of the golf informationsystem of this invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

With reference to FIG. 1, a representative golf course hole generallydesignated by reference number 10 is shown with a tee area 12, creek 22,and a green 14 having a cup 16 which supports the flag or "pin" 17. Onthe left-hand side of fairway 18, a designated golf cart path 20 isprovided. The golf course hole 10 shown in FIG. 1 incorporates the golfinformation system in accordance with a first embodiment of thisinvention in which a number of radio frequency (r.f.) identificationtags 24 are buried beneath cart path 20 at a number of points asdesignated by the "X" marks in the figure. Tags 24 could be regularlyspaced at intervals of several yards or more. When a reading system 30for the tags 24 is positioned over any one of the tags 24, aninterrogation signal emanating from the reading system causes the tag tooutput its internally stored characteristic coded signal which isinterpreted by the reading system to output information to the golfer asto the range from that point to the green, and additional informationsuch as the distance to a hazard such as creek 22 from the point, etc.While the operator is receiving the information at the preselectedpoints of tags 24, they can judge the true distance of the position oftheir ball to the cup 16. Thus, fairway 18 can be thought of as beingdivided into a number of regions 26 over which information from aparticular tag 24 is relevant. In an alternate configuration of thisfirst embodiment, fairway 18 could have a larger number of tags 24positioned in a two dimensional matrix so that readings are available ata multitude of points without requiring cart 28 to remain on path 20.When deployed in such a matrix, several tags 24 may output the samecoded signal since a particular set of range and position informationmay be valid at numerous points.

A description of the physical components and electronic systems of agolf information system according to the first embodiment of thisinvention will be made with reference to FIGS. 2 through 6. Adescription of the operation of the system will be provided followingthe physical description of the elements. FIG. 2 shows golf cart 28which carries an r.f. identification tag reading system 30. Readingsystem 30 principally comprises antenna assembly 32, r.f. interrogatorboard 34, battery 36, and computer and display board 38. Identificationtag 24 is shown in the figure buried below cart path 20.

With reference to FIG. 3, the internal functional subsystems of a tag 24are shown. Tag 24 includes a signal transmitter-receiver 40 whichreceives an interrogation signal through receiving coil antenna 42 anddrives transmitting coil antenna 44 which provides a digitally codedmessage. Signal transmitter-receiver 40 is controlled by microprocessor46. ROM 48 stores a unique code associated with that particular tag 24which distinguishes it from other tags on the particular golf coursewhich are positioned differently with respect to significant coursefeatures. Lithium battery 50 powers the system. With present daytechnology, lithium battery 50 can be expected to provide severalmillion or more reading cycles and will likely last a period of three ormore years. As an alternative, a passive type identification tag couldbe employed which is activated and operated entirely by power outputtedfrom the reading station.

Tag 24 is designed to minimize battery drain by remaining in a quiescentstate after each reading cycle. When an appropriate interrogation signalis received, the system is activated to fetch a digitally coded wordfrom ROM 48 and outputs it through transmitting coil antenna 44. In oneembodiment developed by this inventor, tags were used employing a twelvebit (i.e., three binary numbers) identification message which isoutputted through transmitting coil antenna 44 in serial fashion. Ifmore than 999 discrete coded signals are needed at a particular golfcourse, more binary members could be used so that an appropriate numberof unique codes will be available. Once the message has been transmitted(preferably several times) tag microprocessor 46 causes it to return toa quiescent state. In order to ensure discrimination between theinterrogation and identification signals, some frequency separationbetween them is desirable. As presently contemplated, an interrogationsignal would be broadcast at 132 KHz, whereas the identification signalwould be at 66 KHz. Tag 24 would preferably include an internalhousekeeping system which monitors the voltage of battery 50 and outputsa "low battery" signal which is received and stored by reading system 30to alert an operator of the need to replace that particular tag 24. Withpresent technology, tag 24 can be miniaturized to the size of a verysmall cube or card. All that is necessary for installation is that theground be separated and the tag 24 dropped into the earth and covered.Since tag 24 needs to be encapsulated for environmental protection, oncea particular tag failed, it would likely be replaced rather thanserviced.

FIGS. 4 through 6 illustrate various elements of reading system 30. Withreference to FIG. 4, antenna assembly 32 is shown which consists of twoseparate loops, transmitting loop 52 and receiving loop 54. In oneexperimental embodiment, transmitting loop 52 includes four turns ofwire and has center draw line 58 to allow for opposing fields to begenerated for electrical noise filtering. Fixed capacitors 60 andvariable capacitor 64 are used to tune transmitting loop 52 to maximumresonance. Receiving loop 54 encompasses a smaller area and is also afour turn coil with tuning capacitor 62 but is connected to flowunidirectionally. As mentioned previously, the interrogation andidentification signals are transmitted at different frequencies andantenna loops 52 and 54 are matched to these frequencies for optimalperformance. The range of loops 52 and 54 is intentionally limited sothat the position outputted to the golfer will be accurate to, forexample, plus or minus one yard.

Interrogator board 34 is shown in detail in FIG. 5 and includesmicroprocessor 66 having its operating system software stored on EEPROM68 and RAM 70. Microprocessor 66 drives r.f. signal transmitter-receiver72 connected to antenna assembly 32 which operates in a manner similarto that of tag transmitter-receiver 40, except that it broadcasts at theinterrogation signal frequency and receives at the identification signalfrequency. Voltage regulator 74 receives power from golf cart battery 36and provides a filtered and controlled power supply for reading system30. As shown in FIG. 5, a number of data input and output signal linesare provided for microprocessor 66, including read tag signal 76 andtransmit data signal 78 which are outputted from microprocessor 66, andreceive data signal 80 and reset signal 82 which are inputs. Operationof reading system 30 in response to signal from lines 76 through 82 willbe described in greater detail below.

The functional components and subsystems of computer and display board38 are shown with reference to FIG. 6. Microcontroller 88 has itsoperating system stored on EPROM 90 and several RAM chips 92 and 94 areprovided for data storage. Real time clock 96 provides a time-of-dayreference and can be used for displaying a local time message to thegolfer and/or timing the golfers progress through the course. The powersupply for computer and display board 38 is the golf cart battery 36 andalso includes voltage regulator 98. Lithium battery 102 and batterybackup control 104 are provided to retain stored information uponinterruption of power from golf cart battery 36. Microcontroller 88drives display 106 which is preferably a liquid crystal type since theyare easily read in bright sunlight. The transmit and receive datasignals 78 and 80 are inputted to microcontroller 88, and reset signal82 is outputted. The read tag signal 76 directly drives an LED tagmarker 108 to indicate to the user that reading system 30 is receivingan identification signal. Receive data signal 80 is provided to activatethe system to enable control over the use of the identification system.Normally, signal 80 is in a state to cause interrogation r.f. signaltransmitter-receiver 72 to continuously transmit an interrogationsignal. When a tag has been activated and the coded message received,reset signal 82 prepares reading system 30 for another reading cycle.The transmit data line 78 consists of the coded signal outputted fromtag 24 which has been processed and reformatted by microprocessor 66.

Operation of the golf information system according to the aforedescribedfirst embodiment of this invention will now be described in view of theabove description. Assuming that the system is activated, aninterrogation signal is continually outputted from reading systemantenna loop 52. If one of tags 24 receives the appropriateinterrogation signal through receiving coil 42, the tag is activated tooutput its unique three (or more) digit binary identification signalwhich is received by receiving coil 54. The ranges over which theinterrogation and identification signal can be received is intentionallylimited so that reading system will interact with only one of thenumerous tags 24 placed about the golf course and provide the desiredposition accuracy. Reception of the tag identification signal activatesLED 108. The software of the operating system of interrogator board 34measures the time over which the identification signal is received. Ifcart 28 is moving at a speed slow enough to allow tag 24 to remain incommunication with the reading system 30 for a preselected time period,for example, 0.2 seconds, the position and yardage information isdisplayed. If the speed of golf cart 28 is excessive thus not providingsufficient time for reading system 30 to receive the identificationsignal, a display message is provided noting that the information isavailable but only if the cart speed is reduced.

The signal outputted by tag 24 received by receiving antenna 54 isprocessed at microprocessor 66 and transmitted to microcontroller 88which fetches a set of instructions from a look-up table contained inEPROM 90 and/or RAMs 92 and 94. The signal from microprocessor 66 online 78 is sent to microcontroller 88 in serial fashion, for example, asa 12 bit word at 1200 baud. As mentioned previously, signals having morebinary digits could be used for discrimination of a larger number oftags 24. FIG. 7 illustrates a representative output generated by one oftags 24 which provides information as to the distances of a referencepoint from the tee 12, to and over the water hazard 22, and to the pin17. As is evident from FIG. 7, the information outputted to the golferwould necessarily require more digital bits to define than the threebinary digit signal from tag 24. In other words, tags 24 do not directlyoutput all the information presented to the golfer in accordance withconventional r.f. identification practices. By using a simple tag codewhich is correlated to a detailed set of stored information, the size oftag memory is minimized, the reliability and speed of tag informationtransmission is enhanced, and modifications to the outputted informationcan be easily achieved by reprogramming reading system 30.

In addition to the above features, the golf information system accordingto this first embodiment also provides the capability of providing anumber of additional functions and features. With the input from realtime clock 96, microcontroller 88 can measure the elapsed time betweenthe readings from a series of tags 24 on a particular hole or throughoutthe golf course as a means of measuring the time of play for aparticular hole or a segment of the course If play is excessively slow,a prompting message can be displayed which may also be supplemented byan audible signal from emitter 10. The look-up table contained in EPROM90 and RAMs 92 and 94 for microcontroller 88 can also includeadvertising messages which are activated by particular tags 24. Withappropriate programming, individuals who choose not to pay for the useof golf information system may still receive the advertisinginformation. The system can also contain a number of housekeepingfunctions. For example, an internal count can be made of the number ofreading cycles by a particular golf cart to evaluate cart usage and alow battery signal could be outputted by tag 24 to alert the operator ofthe necessity of maintenance.

Another refinement for the subject golf information system, of thisfirst embodiment, comprehends changes in the positioning of cup 16 onthe surface of green 14 which has the effect of changing the distancefrom the reference points provided by tags 24 to the cup. As shown inFIG. 8, the area of green 14 wherein cup 16 could be positioned may bedivided into a plurality of designated zones, for example, nine separatezones 118, which extend perpendicular to the direction of the typicalapproach shot. Each zone may have a distance depth of, for example,about one yard. Once the cup positions on each of the golf course greensare established, a determination is made as to which zone that cupposition falls into The zone position for each hole is then recorded andcoded. For example, for the first hole, if the cup falls within zone 5,that information could be coded as 015, similarly, the 18th hole at zone2 would be coded as 182, etc. As shown in FIG. 9, one or moreprogrammable tags 112 could be provided at the beginning of the golfcart path 20 which would preferably be located at the exit of the golfcart storage area. An authorized individual would drive cart 28 overprogrammable tags 112, which would load the pin position data intoreading system 30 and stored at RAM 92 and/or 94 for later retrieval.This information would then be used to incrementally decrease orincrease the distance to the pin information outputted to the golfer, asappropriate, and thus custom tailer the system output for changes in thecourse. All of the information stored within the reading system memorieswould be downloaded from a personal computer for convenient programming.

A second embodiment of the golf information system of this invention isshown in FIG. 10, as deployed upon a typical golf course hole 150,containing a tee 152 and a typical green 154, which are physicallyseparated by a fairway 156 and further having a cart path 157 traversinggenerally alongside fairway 156. A typical golf cart 158 is usually madeto traverse the fairway 156 during the play of golf hole 150.

According to the teachings of the second embodiment of this invention, aplurality of buried antennas 160 may be placed generally across thefairway 156 thereby defining distances 162 therebetween. Each of theantennas 160 are connected, in this second embodiment, to a radiofrequency transmitting unit 164 which is itself connected to a source ofelectrical power 166. Each antenna 160 defines a unique position uponhole 50.

The golf cart 158, according to the further teachings of this secondembodiment of this invention, is made to contain a radio frequencytransmitting/receiver unit 168 which is electrically coupled to anantenna 170 thereon. During operation, each transmitter unit 164transmits digitally encoded signature data to the golf cart 158 as thegolf cart 158 passes over the antenna 160 to which that unit 164 isconnected thereto. This signature data defines the location of theantenna 160 upon fairway 156 thereby giving the golf cart 158 anindication of its placement upon fairway 156 and the distance betweenthe golf cart 158 and the green 154 or the flag 155 thereon.

A second configuration of the second embodiment of this invention isgenerally shown in FIG. 11, in which the plurality of antennas 160 isconfined to and buried within the cart path 157. This is particularlyadvantageous in situations in which the golf cart 158 may not be drivenover fairway 156 and is limited only to a traversal of cart path 157.This is usually done in order to maintain the overall quality of fairway156 and reduce the wear from play. The signature data from thetransmitter units 164 are sent in the aforementioned manner to each oftheir corresponding antennas 160 and is received by the golf cart 158 asit passes over these antennas 160 during its traversal of cart path 157.

Referring now to FIG. 12, there is shown transmitter unit 164 ascontaining a transient surge protector 172 coupled to the power source166 by bus 174. Further, transmitter unit 164 contains a rectifier 176and a regulator 178. Rectifier 176 is coupled to the transient surgeprotector 172 by bus 180 and is further coupled to regulator 178 by bus182. Transmitter unit 164 further contains oscillators 184 and 186, adigital signature generator 188, drivers 190 and 192, key modulator 194,radio frequency power amplifier 196, antenna coupler 198, and lighteningarrester 200.

Specifically, the output of regulator 178 is connected to oscillators184 and 186, digital signature generator 188, drivers 190 and 192, keymodulator 194, and radio frequency power amplifier 196 by bus 202.Further, the output of oscillator 184 is coupled to driver 190 by bus204, while the output of oscillator 186 is coupled to driver 192 by bus206. The output of the digital signature generator 188 is coupled to thekey modulator 194 by bus 208, while the key modulator 194 isadditionally coupled to drivers 190 and 192 by buses 210 and 212respectively. The output of drivers 190 and 192 are coupled to radiofrequency power amplifier 196 by buses 214 and 216 respectively, whilethe output of the radio frequency power amplifier 196 is coupled to theantenna coupler 198 by bus 218. The output of antenna coupler 198 isconnected to antenna 160 by bus 220, while antenna 160 is furthercoupled to lightening arrester 200 by bus 222. Lightening arrester 200is further coupled to electrical ground by bus 224.

In operation, approximately one-hundred and twenty (+120) volts ofalternating current is provided by power source 166 and is rectified andregulated, in the usual manner, by rectifiers 176 and regulator 178respectively before being coupled to oscillators 182 and 186, signaturegenerator 188, drivers 190 and 192, key modulator 194, and radiofrequency power amplifier 196. The transient surge protector 172provides the usual protection to radio frequency transmitter 164 in theevent of a typical spike or transient surge in electrical power,particularly due to a lightening strike upon power supply 166.

Oscillators 184 and 186 provide input signals having dissimilarfrequencies to drivers 190 and 192 respectively which amplify theseinput signals thereby producing signal outputs on buses 214 and 216respectively to the radio frequency power amplifier 196. Drivers 190 and192 each contain, in one configuration, potentiometers 193 which areexternally accessible therefrom and connected thereto in the usualmanner in order to provide an adjustment of the output level of drivers190 and 192. The key modulator 194 operates so as to allow only one ofthe drivers 190 or 192 to produce an output signal to the radiofrequency power amplifier 196 at any instant of time. This control isachieved by signals on buses 210 and 212 respectively. The digitalsignature generator 188, by signals on bus 208, defines the driver 190or 194 that is to be activated at an instant of time by the keymodulator 194. That is, the usual output of the digital signaturegenerator 188 comprises a serial stream of logical zeros and ones.Similar values contained in this serial stream of data define a uniqueone of the drivers 190 and 192, while the other dissimilar values definethe other driver 190 or 192.

Upon receipt of signals on buses 214 or 216, the radio frequency poweramplifier 196 acts so as to amplify the input signal and produce anamplified output signal on bus 218 to the antenna coupler 198. Radiofrequency power amplifier 196, in this second embodiment of theinvention, is tuned so as to amplify only signals having a frequencysubstantially similar to the frequency of signals associated with theoutput of drivers 190 and 192 and is further defined to be of a Class Bor Class C type. The antenna coupler 198 then couples this electricalsignal to antenna 160 by means of bus 220 and antenna 160 radiates thedefined electrical energy, present on bus 218, to the golf cart 158, andspecifically to antenna 170 thereon.

The lightening arrester 200 provides a pathway to electrical ground inthe event that antenna 160 is struck by an electrical lightening energy.That is, this surge in energy received by antenna 160 will be preventedfrom being sent to antenna coupler 198 and thereafter to the otherelements within transmitter unit 164 by arrestor 200. Rather, thislightening energy will be directed onto bus 222 and then to electricalground through lightening arrester 200 and bus 224 thusly protectingtransmitter unit 164 from very high surges in electrical energy.

Referring now to FIG. 13, there is shown details of the radio frequencytransmitter/receiver unit 168 used in the second embodiment of thisinvention and containing an antenna 170, a radio frequency transmitterand receiver 226, a key demodulator 228, and the microprocessor 66(shown generally in FIG. 5). Antenna 170 is coupled to the radiofrequency transmitter receiver 226 by bus 230 while the radio frequencytransmitter receiver 226 is coupled to the key demodulator 228 by bus232. The output of the key demodulator 228 is coupled to themicroprocessor 66 by bus 234.

In operation, the signals which are output from antenna 160 are receivedby antenna 170 and then input to the radio frequency transmitter andreceiver 226 by signals on bus 230. Thereafter, the received radiofrequency signals are input into the key demodulator 228 by bus 232,where the received signal is demodulated thereby producing the originalstream of data originally appearing on bus 208. Demodulator 228 thenimpresses this data upon bus 234 to the microprocessor 66.Microprocessor 66 then functions in conjunction with microcontroller 88and entities 68, 70, 90, 92, and 94, shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 in theaforementioned manner to receive and interpret the digital signaturedata originally appearing on bus 208.

Referring now to FIG. 14, there is shown golf cart 158, in conjunctionwith a typical golf course club house 240, in which a radio frequencyreceiver unit 242 and a typical display (i.e., cathode ray tube type)246 are housed. Specifically, radio frequency receiver 242 is coupled toantenna 248 by antenna coupler 250 and is further coupled to display 246by bus 252. In operation, the digital signature upon bus 208 is sent byantenna 170 of golf cart 158 to antenna 248 which couples it to receiver242 which then places it upon bus 252 to the display 246. The receiver242 would normally contain a key demodulator 228 as shown in FIG. 13 inorder to reproduce the signature data from the radio frequency data. Inthis embodiment, the digital signature generator generates a golf cartsignature as well as the aforementioned distance signature upon bus 208and current time data. Display 246 then visually displays the golf cartpositioned information relative to golf cart 158 and the associateddigital distance data as well. In this way, the management of thetypical golf course could determine where each of the plurality of golfcarts 158 are located at any given time upon the golf course and could,by observing the display 246 over a period of time, determine theapproximate speed of play associated with users of golf cart 158. Thiscould be used to potentially speed up the overall play upon a typicalgolf course. In this embodiment, a message may also be displayed upondisplay 106 by microcontroller 88 if too much time has elapsed duringthe play of a single golf hole 150.

While the above description constitutes the preferred embodiments of thepresent invention, it will be appreciated that the invention issusceptible to modification, variation and change without departing fromthe proper scope and fair meaning of the accompanying claims.

I claim:
 1. A golf information system for providing a golfer withinformation regarding the position and distance of designated points ona golf course comprising:(a) a plurality of antenna means, each of saidantenna means being buried within and extending across portions of saidgolf course for transmitting a digitally encoded signal therefrom, saiddigitally encoded signal corresponding to said information; (b) aplurality of transmitter means, coupled to a corresponding antennameans, for generating said digitally encoded signal transmitted fromsaid antenna means; and (c) receiver means, mounted upon a golf cart,for receiving said digitally encoded signal when passing over one ofsaid antenna means, said receiver means having a limited range forreceiving comprising the area beneath and in the immediate vicinity ofsaid golf cart, intended to cause only one digitally encoded signal tobe received at any given time, said receiver means interpreting saiddigitally encoded signal via a system memory, said system memorycorrelating each of said digitally encoded signals to corresponding datadefining said information, said receiver means relaying said informationderived therefrom to display means for displaying said information tothe golfer.
 2. The golf information system of claim 1, wherein saidtransmitter means comprises:(a) first oscillator means, having an inputand an output associated therewith, for generating a first oscillatingsignal at said output thereof; (b) second oscillator means, having aninput and an output associated therewith, for generating a secondoscillating signal at said output thereof; (c) digital signaturegeneration means, having an input and an output, for producing saidinformation at said output thereof; (d) key modulator means, having aninput and an output, said input coupled to said output of said firstoscillator means, to said output of said second oscillator means, and tosaid digital signature generation means for coupling, in response tosaid information, said first and second oscillating signals at saidoutput thereof; (e) power amplification means, having an input coupledto said output of said key modulator means, for amplifying said firstand second oscillating signals and for outputting said amplified signalstherefrom.
 3. The golf information system of claim 2 furthercomprising:(f) antenna coupling means, connected to said antenna meansand to said output of said power amplification means, for coupling saidamplified signals from said power amplification means to said antennameans.
 4. The golf information system of claim 3 further comprising:alightening arrestor having an input coupled to said antenna means and anoutput coupled to electrical ground.
 5. The golf information system ofclaim 1, wherein said receiver means comprises:(a) radio frequencyreceiver means for receiving said information transmitted from saidantenna means; (b) key demodulator means, coupled to said radiofrequency receiver means, for demodulating said information and forproducing an output therefrom; and (c) microprocessor means, coupled tosaid output of said key demodulator means for interpreting saiddemodulated information and for displaying the same to said golfer. 6.The golf information system of claim 1, wherein said portion of saidgolf course comprises:a cart path.
 7. A golf information system forproviding information regarding the position of a golf cart upon a golfcourse comprising:(a) a plurality of antenna means, each of said antennameans being buried within and extending across portions of said golfcourse for transmitting a digitally encoded signal therefrom, saiddigitally encoded signal corresponding to said information; (b) aplurality of transmitter means, coupled to a corresponding antennameans, for generating said digitally encoded signal transmitted fromsaid antenna means; (c) first receiver means, mounted upon a golf cart,for receiving said digitally encoded signal when passing over one ofsaid antenna means, said receiving means having a limited range forreceiving comprising the area beneath and in the immediate vicinity ofsaid golf cart, intended to cause only one digitally encoded signal tobe received at any given time, said receiver means interpreting saiddigitally encoded signal via a system memory, said system memorycorrelating each of said digitally encoded signals to corresponding datadefining said information, said receiver means relaying said informationderived therefrom to display means for displaying said information tothe golfer; (d) second transmitter means, coupled to said receivermeans, for transmitting said digitally encoded signal received by saidfirst receiver means and a current time associated therewith; and (e)second revolver means, remotely located from said first receiver means,for receiving said digitally encoded signal and said current timetransmitted from said second transmitter means, said second receivermeans interpreting said digitally encoded signal via a second systemmemory correlating each of said digitally encoded signals tocorresponding data defining said information, said second receiver meansrelaying said information derived therefrom to display means fordisplaying the same.
 8. The golf information system of claim 7, whereinsaid transmitter means comprises:(a) first oscillator means, having aninput and an output associated therewith, for generating a firstoscillating signal at said output thereof; (b) second oscillator means,having an input and an output associated therewith, for generating asecond oscillating signal at said output thereof; (c) digital signaturegeneration means, having an input and an output, for producing saidinformation at said output thereof; (d) key modulator means, having aninput and an output, said input coupled to said output of said firstoscillator means, to said output of said second oscillator means, and tosaid digital signature generation means for coupling, in response tosaid information, said first and second oscillating signals at saidoutput thereof; (e) power amplification means, having an input coupledto said output of said key modulator means, for amplifying said firstand second oscillating signals and for outputting said amplified signalstherefrom.
 9. The golf information system of claim 8, wherein said firstreceiver means comprises:(a) radio frequency receiver means forreceiving said information transmitted from said antenna means; (b) keydemodulator means, coupled to said radio frequency receiver means, fordemodulating said information and producing an output therefrom; and (c)microprocessor means, coupled to said output of said key demodulatormeans for interpreting said demodulated information and for displayingthe same to said golfer.
 10. The golf information system of claim 8further comprising:(d) antenna coupling means, connected to said outputantenna means and to said output of said power amplification means, forcoupling said amplified signals from said power amplification means tosaid antenna means.
 11. The golf information system of claim 10 furthercomprising:a lightening arrestor having an input coupled to said antennameans and an output coupled to electrical ground.
 12. The golfinformation system of claim 7, wherein said portion of said golf coursecomprises:a cart path.
 13. A golf information system for providing agolfer with information regarding distances between designated pointsand predetermined landmarks on a golf course hole, said golf informationsystem comprising:a plurality of radio frequency tags positioned at saiddesignated points along a golf course hole, each of said tags having adigital memory storing a characteristic digitally coded message, each ofsaid tags having a first antenna means for receiving an interrogationsignal capable of activating each of said tags and for broadcasting saidcharacteristic coded message, said tags being in a quiescent state whennot activated by said interrogation signal; a reading system carried bya golf cart which is movable along said golf course hole, said readingsystem having second antenna means for transmitting said interrogationsignal and for receiving said characteristic coded message when passingmeans of said first antenna over one of said tags, said second antennameans having a limited range for transmitting and receiving comprisingthe area beneath and in the immediate vicinity of said golf cart,intended to cause only one of said tags to be interrogated at any giventime; a reading system memory storing said information, said informationcomprising discrete data which individually correspond to each of saidcharacteristic coded messages; and signal processing means carried bysaid golf cart in communication with said reading system and saidreading system memory, said signal processing means fetching saiddiscrete data corresponding to a proximate tag from said reading systemmemory and outputting said discrete data via a visual display, saidvisual display generating a message related to said landmarks, andthereby enabling the golfer to judge the position of a golf ballrelative to said predetermined landmarks.
 14. A golf information systemaccording to claim 13 wherein said tags are buried in the ground.
 15. Agolf information system according to claim 13 wherein said informationincludes the distance of said designated points to a golf hole cup. 16.A golf information system according to claim 13 wherein said tagincludes an internal battery and provides a low battery warningindication.
 17. A golf information system according to claim 13 whereinsaid reading system memory may be modified and wherein said informationsystem further comprises:means for modifying said reading system memoryto reflect changes in said distance information relative to saiddesignated points.
 18. A golf information system as claimed in claim 17,wherein said modification occurs by said receiver means receivinginformation at the beginning of each round of golf as to said changesfor each of said holes.
 19. A golf information system as claimed inclaim 18, wherein said information is transmitted by a plurality ofprogrammable transmitter means and wherein said receiver means receivessaid information from said programmable transmitter means when passingthereby.
 20. A golf information system according to claim 13 whereinsaid information is comprised of more bits of data than said codedmessage.
 21. A golf information system according to claim 13 whereinsaid coded message is comprised of no more than four binary numbersdefined by four bits of each and said information is defined by morebits than said coded message.
 22. A golf information system according toclaim 13 wherein said reading system further receives a time-of-dayinput and said information includes a time-of-day reading.
 23. A golfinformation system according to claim 13 wherein said reading systemreceives a time input and said reading system computes the time durationof play over portions of the golf course.
 24. A golf information systemaccording to claim 13 wherein said information includes an indicatorwhich informs the user that said reading system is adjacent one of saidtags.